


Second Best

by Rowan_M



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Team as Family, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 20:25:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19280542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rowan_M/pseuds/Rowan_M
Summary: Tony had adjusted to parenthood quickly when Morgan came along, and was always conscious of making sure Peter isn't left out ... Almost always.When Peter gets hurt while taking care of Morgan, Tony obsess over his daughter and takes his anger out on Peter, without even checking to see if he was okay. Steve finds Peter later that night in serious pain and in need of immediate medical attention.Or, Peter gets hurt while taking care of Morgan and Tony basically ignores him.





	Second Best

When Tony found out he and Pepper were expecting, he didn’t think he had enough room in his heart to love someone else. Pepper was the love of his life, Peter was practically his kid, Rhodey was his oldest friend, and, no matter how annoying they were, the team had wormed their way into his heart somehow too. From such a lonely childhood, Tony Stark had grown up to surround himself with people he loved, and he did not think he had enough love to make it stretch for their unborn child. 

Obviously, he was soon proven wrong. After the first scan at the doctors and seeing the splodge on the grainy screen that he was told was his child, his heart must have expanded significantly, and he was filled with flutters of love whenever he thought about his unborn kid. 

Despite numerous anxiety attacks and parental crises, Tony’s love for said child never depleted.

But one thing Tony was sure about, even after his daughter was born, was that he promised himself he’d never let Peter be pushed to the sidelines by his new kid. Peter had become Tony’s constant, practically his own child (and legally his child according to the adoption papers he and Pepper had signed after May’s untimely departure). Their relationship blossomed when Peter had moved in to the compound, and Tony did not want to ruin it or make Peter feel unloved when the baby came along. 

Tony did a good job at first. Peter had been baby Morgan’s first visitor after she was born, and the pair had instantly bonded. 

There was a mutual agreement between the whole avengers team (or at least those that lived at the compound full time) that during the first few weeks after Morgan’s birth, they made an effort to include Peter in team activities whenever Tony had to cancel spending time with Peter to look after Morgan. Peter being Peter, he understood completely and never let disappointment take a hold of him, instead opting to get fully invested in whatever the team was doing - usually training or playing video games.

Peter also loved spending time with Morgan, and Pepper and Tony loved passing her over to him and taking a power nap while he played with and cooed at his (not quite) sister. 

Now, with Morgan at over four months old, Tony and Peter had gotten into a routine - whenever Tony was looking after Morgan and had just put her down for a nap, Tony would collect Peter from the team or his room and they’d spend some time tinkering in the lab, with a baby monitor showing them Morgan’s sleeping form as they worked. 

It was after one of these lab sessions that Tony had accidentally let his promise to himself slip. 

***

Peter had offered to go and pick Morgan up once she woke up from her nap while Tony went to help Cap with dinner. 

“Hey, Morgs. Morganator. Morgamazing,” Peter greeted the quietly crying baby as he entered the room and pulled the blinds up. “You slept for ages today. Are you hungry?” Morgan continued crying, so Peter assumed that was a yes. “Well, you’re lucky it’s dinner time. Tony’s making you some yummy formula milk.”

With practised ease, Peter scooped Morgan into his arms and held her to his chest. Her crying lessened as she nestled into Peter’s collar bone, clearly still sleepy from her nap. Peter carried her out of the room and towards the communal area, where they’d be eating dinner. The whole team wasn’t around today, only Bucky, Steve, Bruce and Sam, the others were on a research mission out of town. Clearly, though, Bucky and Sam had been playing video games all afternoon as the area surrounding the couches and TV were a mess. Everyone was gathered around the table or near the kitchen on the far side of the room, apart from Bucky who was sat on the sofa, apparently trying to mend a broken TV remote. A few of them called ‘Hi’ to Peter as he walked in. 

Although Peter was spider-man, anyone who knew him would tell you ho clumsy the boy was when he was out of the suit, but this time it definitely wasn’t his fault. 

As he weaved his way through the clutter of cushions of drinks bottles around the couches, Peter’s foot landed on a games controller, and he instantly lost balance. Instincts kicked in that screamed a him to protect the baby in his arms, and he rolled in mid air, hoping to land on his side rather than squishing Morgan. His shoulder collided painfully with the edge of the wooden coffee table and he bounced off with a grunt of pain, his back slamming against the floor, and Morgan safe, if a little startled, in his arms. 

“Peter!” someone yelled from across the way, and Peter was just sitting up and checking Morgan over as several pairs of feet clattered across the floor towards him. 

Bucky was the first to him, clasping a hand on his back and saying, “Nice save, champ.”

Tony was next, and he practically yanked Morgan out of Peter’s arms without a glance at the boy and started checking her over. “She okay? Did she hit her head?”

“No, she’s fine. Peter kept her from hitting the floor,” Bucky exclaimed, ruffling Peter’s hair. 

“Hella reflexes there, squirt,” Sam praised Peter from where he was stood with Cap behind the sofa. “Did you hurt yourself, Pe-”

“Jesus Christ, Peter, what did I say about being careful with the baby?!” Tony exclaimed, though not yelling as to not upset Morgan. 

“I was-”

“She could have gotten hurt!” Tony continued, holding the back of Morgan’s head closely to his chest as a sort of subconscious protection. “Of all the times to be a clutz.”

Peter was at a loss for words. Yes, he’d fallen with a baby in his arms, but he’d also managed to keep said baby undamaged during the fall, which was what mattered, wasn’t it? Thankfully Bucky interjected. 

“Calm down, Tony, he tripped on a controller Sam and I left out. It’s our fault, I’m sorry,” Bucky explained somewhat guiltily. 

“Great, so now you two are trying to get Morgan killed too, that makes me feel so much better,” Tony drawled in his trademark of nasty sarcasm. “Be more careful in the future - all of you.” With that, Tony skulked off to the kitchen with Morgan, leaving the rest of the team to follow in silence. 

Pulling Peter up by the elbow, Bucky whispered, “Ignore him. His paternal instincts have just shown their mean side.” 

Peter smiled, but couldn’t hold it for long as the sting of Tony’s reprimands echoed in his head, and his shoulder gave a dull throb to remind him of the force of his impact with the coffee table. 

Thankfully, Tony calmed down as they ate, possibly reassured by watching Morgan guzzle down her milk like she’d been on hunger strike. Conversation remained steady throughout the meal, but Peter decided not to contribute. Guilt gnawed at his insides and dispelled his appetite as he watched Tony interact with Morgan, not even glancing at Peter during the meal. 

Not only that, but Peter’s right shoulder where he’d fallen into the table was throbbing painfully. He found it difficult to lift and rotate his arm and was forced to pick at his meal with his fork in his left hand, slipping his right hand in his picked to keep it still. Even though it was painful, Peter decided he didn’t want to barrage anyone with his probably minor injury, he suspected it was just bruised anyway.

They finished dinner and all retired to the living area, where Steve instructed Bucky and Sam to clean up their mess before sitting down. Steve took out his sketchbook and pencils, Bruce was examining something on his tablet, and Tony was sat on the floor with Morgan on the play mat. Peter sat apart from the others and simply watched Sam and Bucky argue as they tidied. Sitting still, his shoulder didn’t hurt much, but soon after they’d finished, Bucky and Sam launched themselves onto the sofa next to Peter, jostling him harshly. He suppressed a groan, and focused on the nature documentary they’d just switched on. 

It didn’t take long for the lulling voice of the narrator, as well as Morgan and Tony’s playful sounds to turn into background noise and lull Peter into a light doze. 

A hand on his uninjured shoulder woke him up gently. It must have been hours later since the room was dark and Sam was snoring loudly on the couch next to him. Steve stood above him with a soft smile. 

“It’s time for you to head to bed, Pete,” Steve encouraged kindly, offering a hand to help Peter up. 

Confused, Peter looked passed Steve into the dark room and found no one else there except Bucky and Sam. Morgan had probably been taken to bed hours ago, and Tony must have gone too, soon after, leaving Peter asleep on the couch. 

Steve must have noticed Peter’s confusion and offered a small smile. The whole team knew that whenever Peter would fall asleep on the couch, Tony would always come and either wake Peter up and guide him to bed or carry him there himself. He never left without making sure Peter was comfortable and accounted for in his own room. 

Accepting Steve’s hand up, Peter drowsily began to head towards his room until Steve called his name. 

“Peter,” Steve called, making Peter turn around halfway to the door. “I’m sure Tony didn’t mean to lash out at you earlier, it wasn’t your fault. He’s just getting used to these new hormones and feelings.”

Although, Peter hated that Steve was almost making excuses for Tony, Peter understood his point and nodded. 

“I know… it’s fine… I don’t - it’s fine,” Peter stammered. “G’night.” 

Without another word, Peter left the room and plodded to his bedroom. Peter’s shoulder was still twinging somewhat, and taking off his hoodie was a challenge, but he managed, and practically threw himself into bed once he’d brushed his teeth. Trying to block out the incident from earlier from his mind, Peter soon succumbed to an uncomfortable, lonesome sleep. 

***

Peter awoke in a cold sweat in the darkest hours of the morning. A terrible, ruthless, burning sensation was cursing through his arm and shoulder. A small gasp of agony left Peter’s lips as he lay there in shock. 

Seeming to sense his distress, FRIDAY put the lights on to a low level. “Peter, you appear to be in a considerable amount of pain, would you like me to alert Mr Stark?”

“No,” Peter gasped out quietly. He reached up with his left hand and pulled back his t-shirt to inspect his throbbing shoulder. The joint was swollen and stained deep purple and blue with bruising. His arm was lying limply at his side on the mattress and even the thought of moving it made the appendage flare with pain. 

“Would you like me to contact someone else instead?” FRIDAY suggested. 

“Hmmmph,” Peter grumbled, stuffing his face in the pillow and taking deep breaths to try to lessen the pain. Any thoughts of sleeping through the pain had long since been diminished. 

“You are in need of medical attention, can I please contact someone to help you out?” FRIDAY urged, seeming worried despite it being impossible for an AI. 

“Steve,” Peter whispered, eyes squeezed shut and mentally kicking himself for disturbing Steve so late at night. 

After a pause, FRIDAY replied. “He’s on his way now, Peter. Do not move your arm.”

It seemed to take an eternity for Steve’s fast, heavy footsteps to be heard along the corridor, and even longer for Peter’s door to be cracked open by a pyjama-wearing, bed-headed Captain America. 

“Pete?” Steve asked in an alarmed voice as he slowly approached the bed. “FRIDAY said you were hurt. What happened?” 

Not fully processing what he’d said, Peter simply mumbled, “Hurts,” and curled his knees up to his chest. 

“His shoulder appears to have been dislocated earlier, and has since tried to heal itself without being relocated in the joint. I advise immediate medical attention,” FRIDAY said in a soothing yet slightly hurried voice. 

“Okay,” Steve breathed, seemingly assessing the situation. “Pete, we need to head down to the medbay. FRIDAY can you send someone down there to help us,” he said as he gently eased Peter into a sitting position on the bed, with only minimal grunting from Peter as his arm was jostled. 

“There are no medical staff here in the compound presently, but Dr Banner is willing to help,” FRIDAY informed them. 

Steve shuffled Peter to the edge of the bed and swung the boys legs off the side for him. “Thanks, FRI. Here we go, Pete,” Steve muttered reassuringly as he wrapped one arm around Peter’s waist and held his uninjured arm with the other and slowly lifted them to a standing position. 

The journey to the medbay seemed to last a lifetime as Peter shuffled along, barely awake and in too much pain to realise Steve was taking almost all his weight as he steered them down the corridors. 

When they arrived at the medbay, Peter was too exhausted to even contemplate clambering onto the bed, and Steve didn’t hesitate in lifting Peter up and gently lowering him onto the bed, angled so he was sat up with his back supported by pillows. 

Bruce entered in his signature white lab coat, rubbing tiredness from his eyes before putting his glasses on, immediately making Peter feel guilty. 

“I’m s-sorry for waking you,” Peter apologised quietly. 

Shaking his head, Bruce gave him a sad smile. “I’m sure this experience is much worse for you than either of us.” He pulled a trolley of scary looking tools towards the bed, before squinting at Peter’s shoulder. “We need to take your shirt off the have a proper look at your shoulder, but it looks pretty swollen and I don’t want you to move your arm. Is it okay if a cut your shirt away?” he asked, already brandishing a chunky pain of scissors.

The night shirt Peter had on was an old Stark Industries shirt Tony had lent him one of the first times Peter had stayed over, and had since become on of his favourites. 

Peter nodded, barely flinching at the sound of the material being sliced beneath the scissors. 

“You’ve really done a number on this, Pete,” Bruce acknowledged in a low breathe. Peter looked down to the right, to see his exposed shoulder mottled with blue and purple, and swollen to a point where it looked more like Steve’s Super Soldier shoulder than Peter’s skinny one. “I’ll have to do more scans, but I think FRIDAY was right - parts of the joint have tried to heal while it’s still out of place.”

“You can fix it, though, right?” Steve said, still standing close to Peter’s bedside. 

With a smile, Bruce nodded. “Yeah, but it’s going to be a long night.”

And Bruce wasn’t wrong. 

Peter wasn’t ashamed to admit that he had cried silently to himself as Bruce gently position his arm for scans and x-rays. Steve hugged him tight when they re-entered the room, and wiped the tears from his face as Bruce assessed the images of his shoulder. 

“It’s tried to heal more than I thought,” Bruce commented with a furrowed brow. “Popping it back like normal would do more harm than good at this point. How fast can a SHIELD med team get here, FRIDAY?” 

“I have already alerted Dr Cho’s team, they’ll arrive in thirty minutes.”

Bruce let out a sigh of relief. “Great, I’ll start preparing him for surgery.”

***

Steve was solid as a rock through the whole ordeal. His army training paid off - despite it being the middle of the night, Steve remained on high alert and was ready to do whatever Bruce needed him to as they prepared for the emergency surgery. He held Peter’s hand tightly as various needles were stabbed into his arms and helped the poor boy count back from ten as he was put under (Steve noticed the sedatives and painkillers were labelled “SUPERSTRENGTH - Steve / Bucky”). 

The tiredness didn’t start to effect Steve until Bruce and the team disappeared into the OR, with Bruce calling back to Steve that the surgery shouldn’t take too long. However, the very recent memories of Peter’s pained, pale visage kept his mind reeling. Sat glumly in the waiting area, it wasn’t long before Steve found himself faced with an unanswered question. 

“FRIDAY?” Steve asked the room. 

“Yes, Captain Rogers?” the AI replied.

“How did Peter hurt his arm?” he asked, wondering why he hadn’t thought to ask the boy this earlier. 

“I believe he first showed signs of his injury after he fell onto the coffee table in the lounge.”

Of course. Peter probably didn’t even notice he was hurting because Tony had yelled at him so ferociously. It was pretty much unheard of for Tony to get that mad at Peter, except for times Peter had been blatantly self-sacrificing on missions. What was even more out of character for Tony was that he didn’t even bother to ask Peter if he was okay after he fell.

About ten minutes of quiet contemplation later, the waiting room doors slid open, and Steve looked up to see Bucky silently slip into the room with tired eyes.

“What happened?” he asked, taking a seat beside Steve.

Sighing, Steve scrubbed a hand down his face to wipe away the fatigue. “FRIDAY woke me up saying Peter was hurt. He’d dislocated his shoulder and not popped it back in, so it healed wrong. Bruce and Cho’s team are with him now in surgery.”

“How’d he hurt his shoulder?” Bucky asked with a frown.

“When he fell before, his shoulder hit the coffee table.”

Bucky tutted. “Damn Stark.”

“It’s not Tony’s fault,” Steve protested, but with no real conviction. 

“It’s as good as,” Bucky countered. “You saw Pete’s face when Tony was yelling at him.”

Not knowing how to respond, Steve sank back into the chair and folded his arms across his chest. “What are you doing here, anyway, Buck?”

“I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, FRIDAY suggested you might like some company,” he shrugged. 

Steve smiled tiredly at his friend. “Thanks, Buck.” He sighed deeply and rested his head against the wall behind him. From where they were sitting in the waiting room, they could see the sky beyond the window opposite turn from pitch black to deep blue, and slowly get lighter, signalling the arrival of dawn. Knowing what struggles the new morning would bring with it, Steve shut his eyes and blocked out the world.

***

Bucky woke Steve what must have been about an hour later, as the sun was drifting up over the horizon. 

“FRIDAY said they got out of surgery a little while ago, and we can go see him if we want.”

Rubbing his eyes, Steve nodded and stretched out his aching neck and back as he followed Bucky to Peter’s room in the medbay. There were still nurses milling around the room, and Cho and Bruce were talking quietly a little distance from Peter’s bed. 

Peter himself appeared to still be sleeping when they walked in. His face was pale, but had a little more colour than the last time Steve saw him, and his shoulder seemed to be tightly wrapped in bandaging with his arm secured in a sling. 

“How’d it go?” Steve asked Bruce as they approached the bed. 

“Pretty well,” Bruce explained. “The hard bit was getting through all the incorrectly healed parts, but actually popping the shoulder in was easy.”

“He has a remarkable healing ability,” Dr Cho added. “I’ve never really come across anything like this before, but as I was just saying to Dr Banner, we’ve hypothesised that it may take a while longer for Peter to recover from this surgery than it would have taken him to recover if the shoulder had been relocated before it started to heal. We think that because we could not reverse the incorrect healing and we had to damage the joint and the tissue that healed before we could fix the shoulder, that damage in addition to the original dislocation will take longer to heal.”

“Don’t worry about that though, he’ll still be healed in half the expected time,” Bruce explained as he began tidying up his equipment. “He should wake up soon, the medications will be starting to wear off.” 

Steve and Bucky took up vigil at Peter’s bedside as he began to shuffle and stir, while the rest of the medical staff cleared out aside from Bruce. They watched the boy slowly come to. 

“‘s ‘appening?” Peter slurred lazily, looking round at the three men at his bedside. 

“You just had surgery, Peter,” Bruce explained slowly. “You’re in the medbay.”

Taking a moment to look around, Peter seemed to fully absorb what was happening, seeing the IVs and his arm in a sling. “‘kay,” he mumbled unconcernedly, before looking at Bucky. “When’d you get here? Wha’ time ‘s it?” 

“It’s nearly seven in the morning,” Bruce explained slowly enough for him to understand without seeming patronising. 

Peter frowned, clearly still a little out of it from the medication. “‘S not school, is it?” 

“No, Pete,” Steve soothed. “Just relax for a bit okay, don’t stress yourself out.”

“If you’re good we can let you upstairs in a little while, so long as you stay where I can monitor you and don’t overexert yourself,” Bruce said reassuringly. 

Seeming to brighten up a bit, Peter move to sit up more in his bed, but was immediately pushed back down by three pairs of hands. 

“Just relax for now, take a nap if you need to,” Bruce said kindly. 

“But I have homework!” Peter protested weakly as his eyes grew heavy. 

Steve sighed and smoothed a hand through the boy’s hair, know how disorienting the super strength drugs were from past experience. “You don’t, kid, you finished it yesterday.”

“Oh.”

As Bucky chuckled and Bruce adjusted the blankets on the bed, steady footsteps echoed through the hall of the med-bay. 

“Hey, Steve?” Sam’s voice called out as he rounded into the room. “Everything okay? I thought we were going on a run -”

Sam stopped when he noticed the boy laying drowsily on the bed. Said boy raised his good arm to the man and waved lazily. 

“Hey, Squirt,” Sam smiled a small smile, but Steve noticed the concern behind his eyes. “What you got yourself into this time?”

“Hurt my arm,” Peter said, slapping his injured shoulder with his floppy hand and instantly being reprimanded by Bruce. 

Sam looked to Steve for clarification.

“FRIDAY woke me in the middle of the night,” Steve explained sadly. “Said Peter was hurt. When I got to his room he was in a lot of pain, holding his shoulder. I brought him down here and they had to operate. He’d dislocated his shoulder and it had healed in the wrong place.”

Wincing, Sam looked pitifully and the fretting boy on the bed. “How’d he hurt himself though?”

With a sigh, Steve explained. “FRIDAY says it was most likely when he fell last night and hit the coffee table.”

“The little sucker did go down hard,” Sam said with a slight chuckle, but immediately stopped when he was met with three tired, disapproving glares. “Right, sorry.” And then after a moment’s contemplation. “Tony’s gonna flip his shit.” 

“What?” Peter called, trying to sit up straighter yet again, startled. “What’s wrong with Tony? Why’s he mad?”

“He’s not, Pete,” Steve soothed, gently pushing to teen back down. The ‘not yet’ went unsaid. “Take a nap, kid. Everything’s fine.” 

***

It was an hour into Peter’s nap when Tony came rushing in, very clearly flustered.

Sam had agreed to go upstairs and wait for Tony to wake up to tell him about Peter, hopefully to lessen the blow. What actually happened was that Tony told Sam to mind Morgan while he ran downstairs like a madman and burst into the hospital room. 

“What happened?! What’s wrong?! Peter!” Tony practically yelled and received three people rushing to shush the man before he woke up to kid. 

“Wha’...?” Peter slurred dozily as he came to. Bruce fretted over him while Steve and Bucky worked to calm Tony down somewhat. 

“Tony, if you raise your voice in here again I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Bruce called sternly yet calmly as he pushed Peter back to bed and inspected his IVs and bandages.

“What happened?” Tony asked again, much more quietly as he tried to see Peter passed the wall of supersoldier in front of him. 

Bruce sighed as he straightened up. “We had to perform an emergency surgery on Peter last night. He’d sustained a dislocated shoulder when he fell last night and when he went to bed it healed wrong and was causing him a lot of pain. The med team and I had to operate on his shoulder to fix it in the right position.” 

Tony seemed slightly stunned. “This all happened while I was asleep?” It wasn’t really a question. “Why didn’t FRIDAY wake me up?”

Steve opened his mouth to answer, but faltered and frowned. Each of them looked down at Peter, who shrunk back into his pillows and stared at the floor. 

“I think you know why, Tony,” Bruce said slowly, delicately trying not to offend. “We’ll leave you two for a minute.” 

The three men walked out and left Tony and Peter alone in the room. Peter stared at the floor as the silence elongated. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony breathed after a minute stepping closer to Peter’s bed. “I overreacted last night. I know you’d never let morgan get hurt - you’re spiderman for God’s sake, there’s no one who can protect her better. I should have checked if you were okay, and I definitely shouldn’t have shouted at you and ignored you. I’m sorry.”

Peter didn’t say anything, but looked up at Tony with his round, dark eyes. 

“I… I’m guessing that’s why FRIDAY didn’t wake me… I’m so sorry… I promise I'll be better in the future.” Tony sighed deeply, and Peter could have sworn he saw a tear run down the man’s cheek. 

“Okay,” Peter said quietly but earnestly. 

Frowning, Tony stepped even closer to the bed. “I get that you’re mad-”

“I’m not mad,” Peter protested. After a moment of confused silence from Tony, Peter elaborated. “I get why you were angry. I asked FRIDAY not to tell you because I was _kinda_ mad and upset, but I’m not now.” 

“I’m so sorry-”

“It’s fine,” Peter insisted. “I’m sorry, too, for making you worry. I get why you got mad. Morgan's your kid - your actual kid. I'm sorry I wasn't more careful with her.” 

"No, no, Peter. First of all, I always worry about you. Every single day. I worry about you more than I worry about Morgan. You know why?" Peter shook his head. "Because Morgan is a baby, and she isn't throwing herself head first into danger everyday. She's not an antsy teen who I have basically no control. Morgan isn't sacrificing herself for people every hour of the day and night. Second of all, you're right - Morgan is my actual kid. But you're also my actual kid, Pete. Maybe not biologically, but in every other way possible, you're my kid, okay? I love you so much. No more or less than I love Morgan, okay?" Tony waited for Peter to say something, but he just looked down at the floor. Tony took it upon himself to sit next to Peter on the bed and put an arm around Peter, careful of his bad shoulder. "Did I ever tell you that before Morgan was born, I was terrified. For lots of reasons, honestly... but the main reason was that I was scared I didn't have any more love to give out. I was scared I'd reached my limit and there wasn't enough love left in me to stretch out for another person. That's because I had Pepper and Rhodey and the team and _you_ to love. That's more than I've ever had. And, you know, I found more love somewhere within me for her. But my love for you or anyone else didn't diminish, okay? Especially not you. I love you, Pete. I made a mistake yesterday, and I'm so sorry." 

Tony's head hung low as he waited for Peter to say something, but he simple felt a hand reach up to Tony and hang on to the arm Tony had wrapped around him. "I love you too," Peter said quietly. "And I'm sorry too."

Tony tutted. “Don’t apologise, this is on me.” He gently raised a hand and combed it through Peter’s hair, in a way that was common for the pair, and Peter leaned into the touch. 

Thirty minutes later, Bruce returned with a fresh set of pyjamas for Peter, to find Tony reclined on the bed next to the boy. Peter dozed on the man’s chest while Tony rested his chin atop Peter’s head. 

Once Bruce cleared his throat, both of them startled. “Sorry,” Bruce said cheerfully. “You can go upstairs now if you like, Peter. Cho left these painkillers and medication for you to take three times a day, an hour after eating for the next week,” he handed Tony two pill bottles, “and get plenty of rest. For today, you’re going to be staying within the eye-line of at least one of either me, Steve or Tony so we can make sure you are reacting well to the medication and aren’t developing an infection.” 

Peter grumbled at the long list of instructions, but decided not to argue in fear of being kept in the medbay all day as an alternative. He allowed Bruce and Tony to help him into the fresh pyjamas with little complaining and was more than excited to be heading upstairs, if a little tired still. 

The kitchen looked like a candid scene from a weird movie. Steve and Sam were fretting in the kitchen, preparing what smelled like eggs and bacon, Steve with a kitchen towel thrown over his shoulder like a buff biker dad and Sam was wearing a striped apron. Bucky meanwhile, was sat with Morgan on the couch, bouncing her up and down on his thighs while she made gargling giggling noises. 

“Why don’t you go and sit down while I rescue that bacon,” Tony said quietly with a gentle push on Peter’s lower back. Peter glowed at the gentleness of the gesture compared to the experience last night. 

As soon as Peter sat on the couch, Morgan looked round from Bucky’s lap and let out a loud shout while trying to grab for Peter. 

“Okay, little miss,” Bucky smiled as he moved closer to Peter. “You have to be gentle with Petey though, he’s delicate.” 

“Hey,” Peter grumbled indignantly as he reached out his good arm and allowed Morgan to be placed securely on his side. 

Morgan garbled nonsensically and reached up a chubby hand and grabbed onto Peter’s messy curls and pulled sharply. 

“Geez, ow,” Peter laughed. The gesture had reminded him so much of Tony that it was difficult to get annoyed with the girl. 

“I told you he was delicate,” Bucky sneered to Morgan as he helped pry her tiny fists out of the boy’s hair. 

Once he was free, Peter saw Tony watching from the kitchen with a laugh on his lips and a smile in his eyes. All was forgiven.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't you just love abrupt endings?  
> I know the last part of this seems very rushed and disjointed, that's because it basically was. I've been writing this oneshot on and off for a few months, which is why it may be a little ...bad?  
> I just really like the fics where Tony gets mad at Peter and then feels super mad about it after, maybe that's just mad at me? Maybe I'm super weird and messed up?
> 
> Anyway, anyone looking for updates on my fic City Boy... you're going to be waiting a little longer. Exams have consumed all my time for like the last two months, but i finished earlier this week, so I now have more time to write, so expect an update within the next week or so.  
> I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot, let me know, comments honestly make my day and I really loved logging back in and seeing so much support in my inbox for my older fics!  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
